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Quest 1: Beneath Gormenghast
A clan of Skaven calling themselves the Bastards of Groan have kidnapped Titus, the infant heir of Gormenghast. Venture into the deep forgotten halls of Gormenghast, where the rebel Skaven dwell, and bring baby Titus back alive! Each surviving Hero will receive a reward of 50 gold coins. Malbeca the Alchemist, Z the Wizard, Dewey the Farmer, Krain the Barbarian, Gap Nig Gap the Druid, Tad the Thief, Cragganmore the Barrelmaster and Murf the Paladin descend the stairs into the abandoned regions of Castle Gormenghast. The heroes first encounter a dust-covered storage room containing a barrel and a crate. Clawing can be heard from within each of the vessels. The room is searched, Murf the Paladin falls under the spell of a sleeping gas trap, and a Skaven ratman ambushes the party, thirsty for blood! The creature is dispatched, but Murf continues to slumber. Upon further inspection of the crate and barrel, they are found to contain the bodies of Bruce the guard, and Skippy the nursemaid, protector and caretaker of young Titus. Rats emerge from their bloated corpses! After much scratching and biting, the room is quiet once again, and the Heroes move along to the gallery. Along the walls are a series of dusty portraits depicting the nobilities of Groan, each holding a pet rat. The faces of the nobles are slashed. In each portrait the rats grow larger, and in the newer portraits the rats are full grown Skaven, dressed in finery standing alongside the nobles. However, in the newest portraits, there were no Skaven or rats at all. Searching for more clues and the whereabouts of baby Titus, they soon encounter a pair of Skaven arguing about how to best prepare a baby for eating! Combat ensues and the sentries are killed before they can alert more guards. However, behind the next door, the heroes run into some trouble! An axe-wielding Fimir is revealed, and zero-ins on Z, the Ogre-Weezard. The Fimir strikes a mighty blow, and wound is fatal. Z is dead. The Heroes take revenge, and the ensuing bloodlust sends them on a rampage through the sleeping quarters of the Skaven guards. Soon the Heroes find a locked door, but no key was discovered during the assault. Behind a secret door, a trio of giant bats emerge, and screech through the dark hallways, ready to sink their teeth into anything with a pulse. Hark! A wanderer named Wally soon descends the spiral stairs, eager to aid the Heroes in their quest! The bats screech, and welcome him to the dungeons. In open vault, tied to a rope hanging inside a deep well, the Heroes find a rusty key, and open the locked door, where they discover a trapdoor. The group decides to split up, one group heads into the trapdoor that leads them to a torture chamber, and the other group investigates the armory. The group heading to the armory encounter a Chaos Warrior bearing the sigil of the Groan knighthood. After clashing steel with the warrior, they defeat him, and gather up the sigil, along with a magic ring. The group in the torture chamber uncover a pair of zombies, apparently the victims of Skaven torturers. After destroying them, they open a door and finds a screaming Banshee guarding baby Titus. The ghost appears to be a Skaven nanny, presumably the ghost of a Skaven caretaker who was once in the service of the Groan ancestors. Feeling that the Heroes wish to harm the child, the Skaven Banshee strikes! She summons dreadful spells and bloody shrieks, but after a a tough battle, the Heroes vanquish the protective spirit, and gather up the child. An alarm is sounded, and Skaven begin to pour out in pursuit of the intruders. The heroes reunite, and baby Titus is taken up into the arms of Krain the Barbarian, who uses the magic ring to escape back toward the spiral staircase. Baby Titus is saved, and the rest of the Heroes make a hasty retreat to safety, while Skaven curses echo after them. The Bastards of Groan swear revenge.